Samba School – Salgueiro

Acadêmicos do Salgueiro, or simply Salgueiro, is one of Rio de Janeiro’s traditional samba schools. Based in Andaraí, a district in Rio’s North Side (Zona Norte), Salgueiro has its origins in early 20th century blocos and later, in two distinct samba schools from the Salgueiro hill in Tijuca. The school’s slogan is “Nem melhor, nem pior, apenas uma escola diferente“, meaning “Neither better, nor worse – just a different school”. The traditional red and white school has a big fan base. Salgueiro is one of the oldest schools parading so pressure builds up each year and in 2012, Salgueiro’s theme will be “ Enchanted Cordel”. Cordel, as it is known in Brazil, is a literary genre from the Northeast of Brazil; the Cordel is usually written in rhymes, originally orally then printed in paper. The name Cordel comes from the habit of hanging the booklets in strings.